The visitors led through Christian Doidge's first-half strike but Whittaker was twice booked for fouls on Lewis Ferguson and that allowed Aberdeen to respond.

Defender Adam Jackson put through his own net before Andrew Considine and Curtis Main sealed what was in the end a comfortable win for the home side.

Ross said: "I thought we were the better team prior to the red card and (Aberdeen keeper) Joe Lewis made two saves, the first in particular was outstanding.

"The sending-off is pivotal, but you can still win a game with 10 men. We were ahead in the game which isn't a bad starting point, so we need to be better in our response to adversity.

"We're a good team and we showed that in the first hour of the game. Our response to Tuesday night was excellent but that period immediately after the sending-off cost us the game and the goals, from our point of view, are pretty soft."

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes also saw the red card as crucial but felt his side's win was deserved.

He said: "It was a key moment when Whittaker gets sent off, and from there on in I thought the players played with determination. We got the ball into wider areas, but the intelligence of the team pleased me most.

"We were probably just as disappointed we didn't get a couple of big decisions in the first half. Considine has been hauled round the neck, but more galling was the Ferguson one. He's tried to work an angle to get a shot away and is brought down.

"There was a bit of a grievance at half-time, and we've shown in the past how good we can be coming from behind. We had it all to do and the players deserve so much credit."